


Reassurances

by ncisduckie



Series: Love Me, Love You [3]
Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: Angst, Gen, chapter 268, reaction fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 03:17:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18229187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncisduckie/pseuds/ncisduckie
Summary: Yashiro hoped to cheer Ren up after Kyoko shout-praised Sho Fuwa. Except....Ren's bad mood is far more contagious than his own optimism.





	Reassurances

“It explains why she reacted coldly to the flower ring yesterday,” Ren said finally, breaking an almost ten-minute silence. 

I looked to him through the rearview mirror. “What explains it?” I asked, already not liking wherever this was going. While there was no intense aura filling the car like when we first witnessed the scene between Kyoko-Chan and Fuwa Sho, Ren hadn't managed to return to his proper persona. Instead, he occupied a presence that I wasn't quite familiar with. I hadn't seen it since Ren debuted.

“ _ He's always been considerate; he's just bad at expressing it _ .” He quoted the cursed words blandly. “The kiss that night in the photo was Fuwa being ‘considerate.’ The implication is that, unlike him, I am inconsiderate and unkind for assuming things I witnessed with my own eyes.” Ren kept his voice steady and even, though I knew his thoughts were eating at his heart. I knew because that's what they were doing to  _ me  _ and I'm merely emotionally involved the situation as opposed to personally involved.

He continued, sighing. “The flower ring was unkind and inconsiderate because I indulged in my own feelings instead of recognizing that the act could make her uncomfortable. Especially if she harbored... Especially if she secretly harbored feelings for someone else. Someone like  _ him _ .” Ren paused and I couldn't bring myself to interrupt. He looked absolutely devastated. “She would only defend him like that if she no longer resented him. Only if she cared about him to some degree.” I felt his gaze drill holes into my seat. “Am I lower than Fuwa in that case? Regarded below the boy who turned her against love?” 

His voice was barely a whisper. 

“You're nothing like Fuwa-san.” I assured him. There was no way what he was saying was anywhere close to the truth. We were missing part of the puzzle and assumptions were proving to be continuously unhelpful. 

His eyes were blank. “Perhaps that's the problem.” 

“I'm sure that's not it,” I said quickly. “You'll see. When we pick Kyoko-chan up tonight she'll have had time to cool off and you can apologize and explain the basis of your assumption: that we had seen her this morning with Sho. The truth is more important right now than keeping up with the lie about traffic while you cooled off.” I wished, though, I had allowed us to actually get stuck in traffic on the way to pick her up. Perhaps then, the day would have gone entirely different _. “ _ She can probably explain the situation so we don't go assuming the worst.”  _ This time without yelling about Sho’s so-called kindness, I hope _

If Ren believed me, I couldn't tell. But it did quiet his apprehension and he relaxed slowly back into his gentle ‘Ren Tsuruga’ act as we continued toward his destination. Thankfully. I sighed and left the subject alone as I pulled to a stop at a crosswalk.

_ DING! _

A text? I pulled my phone from my pocket, thankful I'd made the decision to keep my gloves on for occasions just like this. My eyes flicked over the sender and my heart raced.  _ Speak of the devil _ . 

_ I apologize for leaving without thanking you for the ride earlier.  _

_ I would like to clear my head a bit, so I ask if you could refrain from including me in the carpool for the time being.  _

_ I'm sorry for imposing such a selfish request. * _

“Ah,” I intoned, reading the text over again.  _ So it's like that. “ _ That's no good.”

“What's no good Yashiro-San?”

Not only was that no good, but I really shouldn't have reacted out loud. My mistake. I needed to be more careful. Especially in precarious situations such as this. I met Ren's eyes in the rearview mirror, attempting a nonchalant smile. “Ah, nothing super important. I just need to make a trip to the office when you get situated today. I forgot to properly file some paperwork and need to go fix it,” I lied easily as I pulled the car back into drive at the green light

“That's very unlike you.” 

“I know but Kyoko-chan’s audition prep was very chaotic. It must have slipped my mind.” 

With all this lying, perhaps I could pick up a side job in acting. Who am I kidding? With these two, there's no way I'll have free time in the next five years..... Though, judging by this morning’s argument and Kyoko’s text... I doubted that I would be responsible for the both of them for very long. I would bet a week’s pay that Kyoko will be assigned a new manager by the end of the month. But I couldn't worry about that now.

What I needed to worry about is how Ren would react to this new development. Not well, I guessed.  _ And I'd just calmed him down, too _ . 

Taking one last look at him staring quietly out the window, I focused back on the road. What he didn't know, wouldn't kill him. 

And hopefully, at the end of all this, I'll still have a job. 

**Author's Note:**

> *I took liberties with the translation of Kyoko's text for the sake of flow.


End file.
